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Posts for tag: dentures

People have depended on dentures for generations—and they still do. That's because they work, both in restoring dental function and a smile marred by missing teeth.

But they have one major drawback related to bone health. That's because living bone has a life cycle: as older cells die, new ones form to take their place. The pressure generated when we chew stimulates this growth. But when this stimulus goes missing along with the teeth, the cell replacement rate slows and bone volume and density gradually diminishes.

Traditional dentures can't transmit this chewing pressure stimulus. And because they rest directly on the gum ridges, they can adversely affect the underlying bone and actually accelerate bone loss.

But implant technology potentially solves this bone loss problem with dentures by using implants rather than the gums to support them. It's a two-fold benefit: first, the implants relieve much of the irritation to the gums and bone caused by traditional dentures. Primarily, though, the implants themselves can slow or even stop continuing bone loss.

Most implants are made of titanium, not only because it's compatible with the body, but also because it has an affinity with bone. Over time bone cells grow on the titanium post imbedded in the jawbone. This process not only creates stability and durability, it can improve bone health.

In recent years dentists have incorporated implants with dentures to create two exciting treatment options. With one option, the dentist installs two or more implants in the jaw, to which a specially fitted removable denture can be attached. You would still have the ease of removing the denture for cleaning, while gaining greater stability and a reduced risk of bone loss.

The other option is a fixed denture (or bridge) attached permanently to implants. For this option, a patient's jawbone must be adequate and healthy enough to support at least four to six implants. A fixed denture is also often costlier and more complex than a removable denture, but it can feel more like real teeth. It also promotes better bone health too.

Although both options are more expensive than traditional dentures, they can pay dividends for long-term dental health. Implants could help you enjoy your new dentures and resulting smile for a long time to come.

Maybe you don’t like to be without teeth — ever. Or maybe you get a little forgetful sometimes. Whatever the reason, if you’re wearing your dentures to bed at night, we have one message for you: Please stop!

Sleeping in dentures can have serious health consequences. A recent study published in the Journal of Dental Research found that nursing home residents who wore their dentures to sleep were 2.3 times more likely to be hospitalized or even die of pneumonia as those who did not sleep in dentures. But how can wearing dentures at night more than double your chances of getting a lung infection?

As the study noted, pneumonia-causing bacteria can readily be moved from the mouth to the lungs simply by breathing. And dentures that are not removed at night can become breeding grounds for all kind of bacteria and fungi (such as yeast). That’s what makes them potentially dangerous.

Another condition often seen in people who wear upper dentures continually is called denture stomatitis, which is characterized by a red, inflamed palate (roof of the mouth) that has been infected with yeast. The yeast microorganisms can also infect cracked corners of the mouth, a condition known as angular cheilitis. Moreover, it has also been shown that people who sleep in dentures have higher blood levels of a protein called interleukin 6, which indicates that the body is fighting an infection. Need we go on?

Wearing dentures is supposed to improve your quality of life, not reduce it. So promote good health by taking your dentures out at night, and sticking to a good daily oral hygiene routine:

Remove and rinse your dentures after every meal.

Brush your dentures at least once a day with a soft toothbrush or denture brush and dish soap, liquid antibacterial soap, or denture cleanser (but don’t use toothpaste — it is too abrasive).

Store your dentures in water or a solution made for this purpose.

Brush your gums and tongue every day with a soft toothbrush (not the same one you clean your dentures with).

Rinse your dentures in clean water before you put them back in your mouth.

Although dental disease prevention has made great strides over the last century, tooth decay and periodontal (gum) disease continue to pose a major health threat. People who’ve lost all of their teeth (edentulism) or most of them suffer the most with adverse effects on their overall health, function and appearance.

Removable dentures have been the traditional and most affordable means to treat edentulism. But even with material and construction advances in recent years, dentures can still lose their fit over time as the bone in the jaw shrinks. This happens because the bone no longer has the stimulus of natural teeth and older cells can’t be replenished at a healthy rate; the continuing compression of traditional dentures on the jaw’s bony ridges compounds the problem.

As the bone shrinks the dentures become loose and uncomfortable to wear. Among other results, this poor fit can drastically affect how you eat: studies of denture wearers have found a decrease in their diet’s nutritional value because they’re eating fewer vegetables or fibrous, “chewy” foods and more foods with refined carbohydrates and fats that are easier to eat but less nutritious.

There is an alternative, though, that might slow bone loss and provide a better long-term fit: an overdenture supported by dental implants. With this appliance, a few implants are strategically installed in the upper or lower jaw. Matched attachments securely fasten the denture to the implants. In this case, the implants not the jaw ridge and gums support the denture thereby preserving the bone.

If you’re healthy enough to undergo a tooth extraction, you should be able to handle implant surgery, a minor procedure usually performed with local anesthesia and with little to no discomfort afterward. It may even be possible to retrofit your current denture to work with the implants, but that will need to be determined during the planning stages.

Although more expensive than a traditional denture, overdentures are much more affordable than fixed restorations stabilized with implants. The difference, though, is the increase in your quality of life — for better nutrition, physical health and social confidence.